We jumped in just to the west of the ramp, surface swam a little to the west and then descended. Visibility was at least 5 metres and there was some surge. We followed the reef to the outboard motor and then over the shelf and around the corner to the slope.

We headed down the slope. I checked out the pink sea tulip covered rock where we'd previously seen a juvenile pygmy pipehorse but could not find it.

We continued down the slope. I carefully checked the rock just up from Pygmy Rock where I have seen a large juvenile pygmy pipehorse a few times and eventually found one which I assume is the same one. If it is, it has been around for over 2 months.
We went further down the slope but did not see any more pygmies. Kim decided to head back after we'd been in for around 45 minutes. I decided to go past the caves to see if I could find the seahorse that had been there. I didn't find the seahorse but the two Flabellina rubrolineata nudibranchs were still in the hydroid colony.

I came back around the corner and up the slope. I tried to find the large juvenile pygmy pipehorse again but it eluded me this time. Further up the slope I came upon two octopuses mating. The male was on top of the rock and the female under the rock. The male's hectocotylised arm went down the side of the rock and was inserted in the female's mantle cavity. The arm is visible in the photograph of the female.

At the top of the slope I followed the reef around to the northern side of the island and exited where we jumped in.

Buddy

Kim Dinh

Seas

Surgy

Visibility

5 metres

Duration

92 minutes

Maximum depth

14.4 m

Average depth

9.5 m

Water temperature

17.0°C

Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand

Tides at Botany Bay AEST

Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.

Low

1:15am

0.39m

High

7:09am

1.46m

Low

12:55pm

0.45m

High

7:29pm

1.92m

Camera gear

Camera

Nikon D7000

Lens

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D

Housing

Ikelite 6801.70

Lens port

Ikelite Flat Port 5502.41

Strobe

2 x Ikelite SubStrobe DS161

Photographs

Depth information, where present, indicates the depth of the camera when the photograph was taken and can be used to approximate the depth of the subject.

Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 8.3 m.

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.9 m.

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.8 m.

Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri. 9.7 m.

Umbrella snail, Umbraculum umbraculum. 9.5 m.

Zoanthids. 10.8 m.

Nudibranch, Flabellina rubrolineata. 13.7 m.

Nudibranch, Flabellina rubrolineata. 13.6 m.

Zoanthids. 10.8 m.

Male common Sydney octopus, Octopus tetricus, mating with a female (not pictured). The octopus is using the arm in the bottom right of the photograph to impregnate the female. 8.8 m.

Female common Sydney octopus, Octopus tetricus, mating with a male (see picture above). The male's arm can be seen just above the eye on the right. 8.9 m.